Episodes
Broadcast live on https://twitch.tv/dkvine on the 30th anniversary of Donkey Kong Country's release in the Americas, Hyle and Malik reflect on three decades of DKC dominance! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Malik McLeod Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 11/21/24
The original Donkey Kong Country introduced or reinvented several all-time classic video game characters. But out of the 17 core, singular characters in the game, where do they rank? Hyle and Jeff put the Kongs, Animal Buddies, and Bosses of DKC through Tier Maker to see how they stack up to each other... using only the criteria of their performance and presentation in that very first game! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Jeff Onan Music: Matt...
Published 11/18/24
Broadcast live on https://twitch.tv/dkvine after the first ever Donkey Kong-themed Nintendo Direct, Hyle and Josh discuss Shigeru Miyamoto's walkabout in Donkey Kong Country at Super Nintendo World! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Josh Wallen Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 11/12/24
Escape to a tranquil forested valley in the foothills of Donkey Kong Island. A dense temperate grove of pines, ape-eating plantlife, and cascading lakes of spiders. You don't need to be a vulture to appreciate the culture of the trees and the towns within Vine Valley! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Dustin Jackson Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 11/11/24
EGX x MCM Comic Con was held in London during the last weekend of October with three big DKU-related panels and playable demos of the upcoming Yooka-Replaylee and Dunk Dunk (also featuring playable Yooka and Laylee). DK Vine correspondent Dray was on the scene and they're now on the Kongversation to talk about the 30 Years of Donkey Kong Country panel, news from Playtonic, and the latest from Rare! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Dray Music:...
Published 11/04/24
It's the third Mario Party game on the Nintendo Switch. It's the second in a row that excludes Diddy Kong. It's a series that Hyle and David long burned out on. And yet... is it their favorite Mario Party in 25 years? Either they're full of hot air or there's plenty to explore in Super Mario Party Jamboree for even the most jaded Mario Party cynic! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: David Thomas Lynch Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two...
Published 10/28/24
Hyle and Cameron discuss Rare's Craig Duncan's promotion to head of Xbox Game Studios and Joe Neate and Jim Horth's taking over operations at Rare. We also weigh what that means for the future of the studio and its beloved properties! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Cameron Reigle Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 10/27/24
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past several days, you know that Banjo-Tooie is coming to Nintendo Switch Online. Hyle and Dustin discuss the surprising announcement that took Rare and DKU fandom off-guard and also what this means for the rest of Rare's Nintendo library! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Dustin Jackson Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 10/22/24
Was the long-awaited return of Captain Flameheart in Sea of Thieves a flaming inferno or but a smoldering cinder? Hyle and Jeff discuss Season 13 of Sea of Thieves, which saw the inclusion of the Burning Blade World Event, Skeleton Camps, and... Ellie the elephant? Just a little clickbait for the algorithm there. We're having a good time. Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Jeff Onan Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 10/14/24
DK Vine has not been to the new Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan. But we have plenty to SAY about the new Nintendo Museum! Specifically, all of the surprising Donkey Kong Universe inclusions and references found within its two stories... including Diddy Kong Racing and Banjo-Kazooie! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Cameron Reigle Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 10/07/24
20 years later, Hyle and Dustin PANsplain the DK Bongos and the Donkey Kong series' brief but defining turn toward rhythm games with the Spotlight episode on the original Donkey Konga! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Dustin Jackson Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 09/30/24
In the first Kongversation "Game Pitch" episode, Hyle, Jeff, and Dustin lay out their unified vision for a new Donkey Kong-related title that would propel a once-forgotten supporting character with renewed cultural cache to unimagined heights: Swanky Kong's Pizza Buffet! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guests: Jeff Onan, Dustin Jackson Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 09/23/24
Hyle and Malik bid fair winds to Stinky Ape Summer 2024 with a LIVE Talk Like a Pirate Day episode! First broadcast on https://twitch.tv/dkvine, it's a discussion on every single pirate Kremling from off of Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2. Why are the Kremling Kuthroats the best video game antagonists in history? Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Malik McLeod Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 09/19/24
Super Mario Party Jamboree was playable at PAX West, which coincided with the announcement that Pauline would be making her Mario Party debut in the game. Coincidentally, DK Vine's resident Pauline simp was on hand to give us some show floor first impressions! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: I.M. Gibbon Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 09/16/24
It's Mr. Machacek! Rare's longest-tenured employee joins the Kongversation to trade in the QA for some Q and As and discuss his storied career. From programming Donkey Kong Land and It's Mr Pants to devising Stop 'N' Swop across Rare's N64 titles, we get to the heart (and into the pants) of some long-standing rumors and misconceptions from the last 36 years! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Interviewee: Paul Machacek Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two...
Published 09/09/24
Leave it to the Kongversation to spend three hours talking about the beaver. The Gnawty, that is. The very first enemy seen in the Donkey Kong Country series. A hapless rodent for all seasons in Banjo-Kazooie! And a right bother in Donkey Kong 64. Are Gnawties iconic, or are they just a dam joke? Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Dustin Jackson Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 09/02/24
It's DK Vine's silver jubilee! First broadcast live on https://twitch.tv/dkvine on August 22, 2024, Hyle and Mitchell reflect on how a Donkey Kong and Rare website founded in 1999 has stubbornly refused to die. Featuring messages from the DK Vine staff and friends of the show, it's a celebration of the enduring power and communal bonds of fandom! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Mitchell Wolfe Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 08/26/24
To better understand where Conker ended up, we need to first understand where he came from. Hyle and Dustin explore his hometown of Willow Woods, as seen in Conker's Pocket Tales, and piece together how it fits in with the lands of Bad Fur Day and the rest of the Donkey Kong Universe! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Dustin Jackson Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 08/19/24
30 years ago, an iconic video game character was born in the English Midlands, becoming Rare's breakout star and growing to be an adopted Nintendo mainstay standing alongside their homegrown favorites. Hyle and Cameron discuss the design evolution of Diddy Kong, from his earliest days as a new look for Donkey Kong Jr. to his status as a Video Game Hero today! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Cameron Reigle Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File...
Published 08/12/24
Hyle and Jeff "Listup" their top 10 Donkey Kong Universe games! Which elite titles from the past 30 years made their lists? Why did some controversial picks make the cut, while some widely beloved entries fail to reach the tiptop of the Tiptup? Hopefully, neither of the hosts is too Tanktup to make their case! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Jeff Onan Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 08/05/24
Which period of time is the least discussed from the height of Donkey Kong Country Mania? The months before Donkey Kong Country Mania! The Kongversation goes back 30 years to the summer of 1994 when Nintendo of America announced DKC, and their whole new attitude, to the world at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: I.M. Gibbon Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two Productions
Published 07/29/24
Season of Thieves: Season 12 introduced new tools and mechanics, some a long time coming, that further evolved Rare's bestselling pirate adventure. However, as the gameplay possibilities expanded, the game's narrative integrity degraded. Welcome to the Sea of Thieves season where ghost parents used a magic sword off-screen to remember their daughter's arm! Producer: Hyle Russell Host: Hyle Russell Special Guest: Jeff Onan Music: Matt Cornah ©2024 File Two...
Published 07/22/24
Expresso the ostrich has never reached the stature of Rambi, Squawks, or Enguarde in the menagerie of Animal Buddies in the Donkey Kong series. But he's come close. And despite being mostly known for the original Donkey Kong Country, he's had one of the more diverse and storied careers out of not just the Buddies, but all DK characters! The Kongversation explores the adventures of Expresso: the journey into the clouds of Donkey Kong Land, participating in underground Kremling ostrich racing,...
Published 07/15/24
The Donkey Kong Universe has been in a severe game drought since 2019, but it's been even longer if you've been counting since the last original, standalone Donkey Kong game (10 years) or the last Banjo-Kazooie title (16 years). How does a diehard fanatic of any or all of these franchises cope? Hyle is joined by Josh Wallen from off of the Geek Critique to discuss historical methods he's used in the off-months in the 1990s, as well as highlighting some modern games that might quench your...
Published 07/08/24